Does anyone know the way to victory lane?

RICHMOND

Jeff Gordon is confused. His stubborn car is as cranky as a teething child.

It doesn't matter that Gordon is one of NASCAR's winningest drivers and a four-time series champion. The car won't obey him.

Gordon is not alone. Five of the six series champions competing in tonight's Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway are winless this season. Not since 2002 has just one former champion visited Victory Lane 10 races into the season.

Unless one of those five ex-champs reverses the trend tonight, their woes likely will continue.

Other than Gordon, the other former champs seeking their first win are Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte. Of that group, Busch is the only one who has won at Richmond in the past five years. The only champ with a win this year is Jimmie Johnson, who won at Phoenix last month.

Gordon and others have struggled to find the right setup; Goodyear often brings a different tire to the track than run at the most

recent race there. The tires brought this weekend were not used last fall. Several drivers talked Friday of sliding through corners and fighting to maintain control.

"All of the setups that we had last year, just throw them out the window," said Gordon, who has fallen five spots to 14th in the points since late March. "Sometimes you've got to learn how to drive different setups. This car was created to simplify things and, in my mind, all I've seen is things being more complicated. It's something that some guys have figured out - and I have not."

Gordon qualified 28th, his worst starting spot at Richmond.

Kenseth, who has never missed the Chase, also has had his woes. In the past two races, he has dropped six spots to 19th in the points. Typically steady, he has one top-five finish, 12 drivers have more than that.

Car owner Jack Roush said Kenseth's team needs to "recapture the magic." They'll try to do that with extra help: Kenseth's former crew chief, Robbie Reiser, will aid crew chief Chip Bolin.

Reiser had been Kenseth's crew chief since 1999 before becoming the general manager at Roush Fenway Racing after last season. Roush said Reiser likely will be on the pit box with Bolin during the race, but he won't talk on the radio with Kenseth; Reiser will only listen. This, Roush said, is Bolin's team.

After Kenseth, who starts 24th, completed his qualifying lap, he radioed his crew: "Not too good, I guess."

Stewart has come closest to winning this year. He lost the lead in the final lap of the Daytona 500 and he finished second at Atlanta. He has been 14th or better when he was running at the finish.

Stewart often starts slow and collects wins starting in May. Another streak could be coming.

"Even though we haven't been spectacular as far as wins this spring, so far, I've been pretty happy with the way we've been running," he said. "We haven't had any luck yet and that's the big thing."

Stewart admitted that the new car has been a challenge.

"It just seems like it's harder to get the car around the race track than before," he said.

Busch and Labonte can relate. They've fallen in the standings; Busch is 20th and Labonte 22nd, lowest among the former champs who have competed in every race.

After placing second to teammate Ryan Newman in the Daytona 500, Busch has not finished in the top 10. Labonte has no top 10s this year; both teams have struggled with their Dodges.

But Gordon's woes stand out. He's with a team that won half of the races last year, but Gordon hasn't won since October.

After his run Friday, Gordon radioed crew chief Steve Letarte and detailed what his car did on the track and where he'll need some adjustments.

Gordon added one other thing: "Don't know what it's going to do."